Activists call for Boston to pay $15 billion in reparations for slavery

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“Our ultimate goal is repair and reconciliation in Boston, a city plagued by racial strife,” Rev. Kevin Peterson said.

A Boston organization is calling on the city to pay $15 billion in reparations to Black Bostonians for its role in slavery and generations of discrimination.

The Boston People’s Reparations Commission, an initiative formed by the New Democracy Coalition, announced their proposal for cash to go to individuals, institutions to support home ownership and businesses, and programming for addressing achievement gaps, violence reduction and community justice for Black residents in a press conference Monday.

The grassroots organization has 70 community commissioners — described as activists, organizers and residents — to lead the city toward reparations, they said. 

“It is imperative that we comprehensively address the issue of Black reparations in Boston if we seek a true democracy and the Beloved community,” Rev. Kevin Peterson, the founder of both the commission and the New Democracy Coalition, said in a statement.

The organization has been advocating for cash reparations since 2018. Peterson also advocated to rename Faneuil Hall due to Peter Faneuil’s prominence as a slave trader, which earned him his fortune. The Boston City Council called for the city to rename the popular tourist destination last year, but without any plan forward.

The coalition said Peterson was also involved with Boston’s historic apology for the city’s participation in trans-Atlantic slave trade in 2022. The council’s resolution, however, did not call for financial reparations.

The Boston People’s Reparations Commission said that apology led to the city’s Reparations Task Force, which launched a year ago to study the effects of slavery in Boston and how to repair its damage.

The commission said they will be hosting community reparations hearings in May and October.

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